BigFix Upgrade from 9.2

[itsmpro92]

I have a customer that is running BigFix 9.2 in a very small ILMT installation. IBM is recommending we use BES Remove tool and then install a supported version (9.5 or 10).

Can we use the same masthead for the installation of the new version of BigFix in order to retain the computer IDs and other information that ILMT requires?

[JasonWalker]

I’m pretty sure using BESRemove would wipe the computer IDs, as would just replacing the server.

Are version upgrades rather than reinstall an option? (Granted there may be OS and/ SQL versioning that could complicate it - if I recall correctly 9.2 may be running on a 32-bit OS where 9.5 would require 64-bit OS and potentially newer versions of SQL)

[atlauren]

This seems very unlike BigFix. Is there something weird about ILMT that forces such a thing?

[itsmpro92]

We attempted to run the 9.5 21 installer but encountered this error: Database Error Invalid Column Name “NAME”.

I opened a case with HCL, but they declined to assist since this is an ILMT implementation.

I’d like to avoid a break in the ILMT data that would result if the Computer IDs changed.

Currently running: BigFix Platform v9.2.18, Windows Server 2016, SQL Server Express 2014.

[atlauren]

I have vague memories of the 9.2->9.5 upgrade windows being finicky. I think there was a significant change mid-way through the 9.5 series that made it necessary to do an intermediary 9.5.x stop before you could go all the way to 9.5.y?

Something like that?

[JasonWalker]

The only specific note I see is that it must be at least 9.2.3 before going to 9.5, but that requirement is already met.

9.2 went end-of-life in April 2022. It’s probably safe to say that upgrades from 9.2 to 9.5.x weren’t fully regression tested after that point - so I would start by upgrading to a 9.5.x that was available at that time… And if you had WebUI, it was a very different WebUI in 9.2 so check the notes about manually installing WebUI at https://help.hcltechsw.com/bigfix/9.5/platform/Platform/Installation/c_upgrading1.html

Of course, have a full backup of everything before touching it.

Checking the Release Announcements, it looks like 9.5.18 was released about the time 9.2 went end-of-support, so…I’d first try upgrading to 9.5.17 or 9.5.18 before stepping to anything higher than that.

What are the OS and SQL versions on your 9.2 server? I’d double-check those in the compatibility list, as you might also have to step up especially the SQL version in there at some version.

[JasonWalker]

The Detailed System Requirements are at https://support.hcltechsw.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0088288#win

In particular note for any 9.5.x you’ll need to be at least on Win Server 2012 and at least SQL Server 2008 to get to 9.5.3.

[atlauren]

Somewhen around that period, we had a very weird situation where a SQL Server patch wouldn’t apply because some embedded system name didn’t match the machine name. (The VM server had been deployed from a template, then changed.). Our DBA eventually found a MS article on it, with a work around. Untangling that was quite the adventure.

I’d also look out for whether SQL Server might be running in a mode where it’s imitating an older version? Maybe that’s choking somewhere?

[JasonWalker]

Was that a database collation setting? I do recall hearing problems about the collation not being set to case-insensitive or varying between the database server versus the database itself…we do have a couple of KB articles on that at https://support.hcltechsw.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0023630 and https://support.hcltechsw.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0098763 that might be helpful, but neither specifically calls out the error message @itsmpro92 posted. Probably worth a check though.

[trn]

I can’t remember the details now, but I do recall having to do a two-step upgrade when we moved from an earlier version (can’t recall what, off the top of my head) to 9.5.13 - something 64-bit related, I think, and the migration through the schema updates was only handled through a small subset of installers.

[ssakunala]

The installation may be small since they are using SQL Express. Check the following link for reconciliation information to help with ILMT.
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/license-metric-tool?topic=computers-migrating-between-data-sources

[JasonWalker]

Currently running: BigFix Platform v9.2.18, Windows Server 2016, SQL Server Express 2014.

Apologies I kept going on about OS and SQL version…I somehow missed it completely that you had already told us.

[itsmpro92]

Can I use the current 9.2 masthead to install a 9.5 or 10.0 BigFix?

[JasonWalker]

I don’t see anything obvious that would prevent it; for a question like this I’d generally set up a small VM and do a dry-run, but I’m afraid I don’t have any 9.2 mastheads to try.